James 1:27 - Exposition

God and the Father ; rather, our God and Father. The article ( τῷ ) binds together θεῷ and πατρί , so that they should not be separated, as in the A.V. To visit the fatherless … and to keep himself unspotted. Observe that our duty towards our fellow-men is placed first; then that towards ourselves. ἐπισκέπτεσθαι is the regular word for visiting the sick; cf. Ecclesiasticus 7:35, "Be not slow to visit the sick ( μὴ ὄκει ἐπισκέτεσπθαι ἀῤῥωστον ) . " The fatherless and widows ( ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας ). These stand here (as so often in the Old Testament) as types of persons in distress; the "personae miserabiles" of the Canon Law (see e.g. Deuteronomy 10:18 ; Psalms 68:5 ; Psalms 82:3 ; Isaiah 1:17 ; and cf. Ecclesiasticus 4:10). "Be as a father unto the fatherless, and instead of an husband unto their mother; so shalt thou be as the son of the Most High, and he shall love thee more than thy mother doth." To keep himself unspotted . Man's duty towards himself. (For ἄσπιλον , cf. 1 Timothy 6:14 ; 1 Peter 1:19 ; 2 Peter 3:14 ) From the world . This clause may be connected either with τηρεῖν or with ἄσπιλον , as in the phrase, καθαρὸς ἀπὸ in Acts 20:26 .